http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/3252945.htm

Likud rejects Palestine statehood

The vote by Israel's ruling party defied its leader, Ariel Sharon, and set back peace efforts. But an attack on Gaza was called off.

By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Alfonso Chardy

Knight Ridder News Service

TEL AVIV - In a defiant stand that could further inflame passions throughout the Middle East, Israel's ruling Likud party voted yesterday to oppose creation of a Palestinian state.

The vote could outrage Arabs and undermine Likud's leader, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, by revealing dissatisfaction with him in his political base. Sharon opposed the resolution, but lost. The vote also was a slap at President Bush, who has asserted repeatedly that the end result of any successful peace process must include an independent Palestinian state.

While Likud historically has opposed Palestinian statehood, Sharon recently acknowledged that it will be integral to any peace deal. Arab leaders say no peace with Israel is possible without it.

The Likud vote thus could further set back efforts to broker peace in the region and could bolster Arab contentions that Israel is more responsible than the Palestinians for failure to stop the violence.

"What would really put Sharon in a bind is if the Saudis can pressure the Palestinians to stop terror attacks, then Bush and Sharon might clash," said Gershom Gorenberg of the Jerusalem Report, a biweekly, centrist English-language magazine.

Also yesterday, Israeli reservists began returning home from Gaza after military officials postponed a planned assault on the area. Gaza is headquarters for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which claimed responsibility for a suicide attack last week that killed 15 Israelis.

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told CNN's Late Edition that Israel delayed the attack to give a "chance to the peace process."

Military issues also influenced the decision. Commanders worried that Israel had given Palestinian militants too much time to prepare.

Still, Israeli tanks remained massed on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian-controlled area of 1.2 million people that lies on the Mediterranean Sea between Israel and Egypt.

At Likud's central committee meeting in Tel Aviv, Sharon tried to stave off yesterday's vote by calling instead for the 2,000 party members to support the government.

"Any decision taken today on the final agreement is dangerous to the state of Israel and will only intensify the pressures on us," he said. "To make peace and preserve Israel's strength we must preserve our relationship with our best friend, the United States."

But boos and hisses drowned him out, and his motion lost 669 to 465. The anti-Palestinian-state question passed on an almost overwhelming voice vote.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instigated the vote in what the Israeli media described as a bid to take Sharon's job. Many party members in the packed auditorium, like Sasi Hubousku of Tel Aviv, chanted support for Netanyahu until they were hoarse.

"Sharon is not believable; tomorrow he's left, today he's right," Hubousku explained.

Netanyahu said an independent Palestinian state could spell death for Israel.

"A state could bring in weapons for its soldiers without any limit. A Palestinian state would control the aquifer, which gives us 30 percent of our water. Yes to a Palestinian state means no to a Jewish state, and yes to a Jewish state means no to a Palestinian state," Netanyahu said.

The Bush administration is working with leaders of Arab states to pressure the Palestinian Authority to stop attacks against Israelis.

Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Jordan's King Abdullah, who spent last week in Washington meeting with Bush and other U.S. officials, warned that Israel must offer hope to the Palestinians, or "otherwise Israelis are going to continue to lose their lives as well as Palestinians and Arabs."

He said the Middle East turmoil has raised Arab passions so much that Osama bin Laden could benefit. "If he is alive, his position would be stronger," Abdullah said.

In Gaza yesterday, an Israeli settler was shot and killed by one of his Palestinian workers, authorities said. Though they were still investigating, Israeli officials indicated that the killing was politically motivated.

Also in Gaza, Palestinians held a funeral for a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Ezzidine al-Hillou, who was shot by Israeli soldiers Friday. The soldiers opened fire when they saw the boy and two young friends approach a border fence near a military outpost. Palestinian officials said the two other boys, ages 10 and 14, were wounded.

In Bethlehem, worshipers returned to the Church of the Nativity for the first services since Palestinian gunmen left the church after a five-week siege. The smell of incense filled the air as different Christian denominations held Sunday prayer services.

"We are happy to be here, to attend the services after a long absence," said Alberta Katan, 65, as she lit candles near the grotto believed to mark the birthplace of Jesus.

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Contact Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson at snelson@krwashington.com. Knight Ridder correspondent Cliff Churgin and James Kuhnhenn of the Inquirer Washington Bureau contributed to this article. It also contains information from the Associated Press.